hives

Etymology

The word is of unknown or uncertain origin.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} It was originally Scots.^[5][6][9] Jamieson and others connected it with heave, because the eruptions rise above the skin, but the OED and Etymonline find this hard to explain phonetically.^[2][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

An itchy eruption of the skin: about 1500, in Roull's Cursing.^{[2][10][7][4]} The OED quotes Jamieson's definition, any eruption on the skin thought to come from an internal cause.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first covered various rashes and eruptions, especially those of children,^[5][6][2] and now means urticaria in particular.^[5][3][11] The English Dialect Dictionary records it in Scotland, Ireland, Northumberland, Cumberland, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Herefordshire for skin eruptions, blisters and the rashes of infants; in Cumberland cases of chickenpox, urticaria and impetigo were all called hives.^[12] It also names a feverish complaint of children, and in Inverness a bowel disorder of young children with diarrhoea and wasting.^[12] Grose (1790) described it as superficial red swellings that came and went suddenly, chiefly in children.^[12] In the United States the name was given in 1839 to a compound syrup of squills.^[2] The word takes a plural verb in the OED's description,^[2] but a singular or plural one in the modern dictionaries.^[3][11][5]

Timeline

• c. 1500 – an eruption on the skin.^[2][10][7]
• 1790 – superficial red swellings that come and go, chiefly in children.^[12]
• 1839 – in the United States, a compound syrup of squills.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An itchy rash of raised red welts, usually caused by an allergic reaction; urticaria, also called nettle rash.^[3][11][4] Used with a singular or plural verb.^{[3][11][4][5]}
2. (dialect) In Scotland, Ireland and northern England, any of various skin eruptions or rashes, especially of children.^[12][2][5]

Related words

• heave
• hive

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c d e Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)